THE FALL of AELYTH-KINTALYN

 Part I of The Lords of Aelyth-Kintalyn from Tales of Ulm from Hester's Hearth

  Urolf, Lord of Aelyth-Kintalyn, falls in love with Leana, sister-in-law of Leochtor, Lord of the Lakes. Winning her heart, he weds her and takes her off to his domain. From the moment Leana sets foot in her new home, her troubles begin.

  "When they tire of their woodland, Aelyth-Kintalyn, they (Yul Kinta) up and take off into what they call Ān Telfahn, or In Between, a wondrous magic region where countless dream worlds float by for the asking, bright bubbles in the void." The portal to this place comprises two ancient rowan trees in a rocky basin deep in the woods. Leana finds the portal disturbing and is glad to leave it behind:

  "Leana climbed the slope, and pausing, looked back down toward the portal. In the brilliant sunlight, the two trees now looked stark, and seemed to float above the ground, suspended on their own shadow."

  Leana's misgivings were well founded, as succeeding events tragically revealed.

Frontispiece.

  Leana finds her new home very different from Pen'langoth. Walking down the main street for the first time, Urolf asks her how she finds it.
  "The trees are splendid...but where are the houses?"
  Urolf waved his arms about. "Everywhere. Take a closer look."
  Following his gestures, Leana now saw recessed doors to narrow walkways curving up around the bossy trunks to vanish into the branches overhead. "Tree houses?" 
  "We build around the living trunks from root to crop."